Sooner-than-expected climate impacts could cost the world trillionsWed, 14 Jan 2026 03:00:58 +0000 A report warns that we may have seriously underestimated the rate of warming, which could damage economic growth | |
These small lifestyle tweaks can add a year to your lifeTue, 13 Jan 2026 23:30:15 +0000 A few extra minutes of sleep per day or an extra half-serving of vegetables with dinner can add a year to our lives, according to an analysis of data from 60,000 people | |
The hunt for where the last Neanderthals livedTue, 13 Jan 2026 18:00:53 +0000 Clues from studies of ancient plants and animals have helped archaeologists pin down where the last Neanderthals found refuge, says columnist Michael Marshall | |
The Pacific Islanders fighting to save their homes from catastropheTue, 13 Jan 2026 16:00:05 +0000 Some of climate change's sharpest realities are being felt on small island nations, where extreme weather is claiming homes and triggering displacement. Those able to stay are spearheading inventive adaptation techniques in a bid to secure their future | |
Greenland sharks survive for centuries with diseased heartsTue, 13 Jan 2026 15:00:08 +0000 A study of the hearts of Greenland sharks has found that the long-lived deep-sea predator has massive accumulations of ageing markers, such as severe scarring, but this doesn't appear to affect their health or longevity | |
We're about to simulate a human brain on a supercomputerMon, 12 Jan 2026 14:07:15 +0000 The world’s most powerful supercomputers can now run simulations of billions of neurons, and researchers hope such models will offer unprecedented insights into how our brains work | |
Pompeii’s public baths were unhygienic until the Romans took overMon, 12 Jan 2026 20:00:26 +0000 Before the Romans captured Pompeii, the famous town was run by the Samnite people – and a dip in their public baths might have been an unpleasant experience | |
Quantum computers could help sharpen images of exoplanetsMon, 12 Jan 2026 18:00:06 +0000 Combining two kinds of quantum computing devices could be just the trick for taking better images of faint, faraway exoplanets | |
Our elegant universe: rethinking nature’s deepest principleMon, 12 Jan 2026 16:00:44 +0000 For centuries, the principle of symmetry has guided physicists towards more fundamental truths, but now a slew of shocking findings suggest a far stranger idea from quantum theory could be a deeper driving force | |
Is there an evolutionary reason for same-sex sexual behaviour?Mon, 12 Jan 2026 16:00:19 +0000 Sexual behaviour among same-sex pairs is common in apes and monkeys, and a wide-ranging analysis suggests it does boost survival | |
Why it’s easy to be misunderstood when talking about probabilityMon, 12 Jan 2026 11:00:37 +0000 Mathematicians rely on numbers, but finding words to explain different levels of certainty has stymied everyone from the ancient Greeks to the most famous modern philosophers. Maths columnist Jacob Aron tells the story of how a CIA analyst finally cracked it | |
Making autism into a partisan issue can only be harmfulWed, 07 Jan 2026 18:00:00 +0000 While US President Donald Trump and his administration are making false and debunked claims about the causes of autism, real research is improving our understanding of the condition | |
Sinking trees in Arctic Ocean could remove 1 billion tonnes of CO2Fri, 09 Jan 2026 20:00:52 +0000 Cutting down boreal forest and sinking the felled trees in the depths of the Arctic Ocean could remove up to 1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year – but it could come at a cost to the Arctic ecosystem | |
How rethinking your relationship with time could give you more of itWed, 07 Jan 2026 16:00:13 +0000 You might feel like the days and weeks are slipping by. Here is how one psychologist says you can shift your experience of time | |
Why my 2026 fitness resolution is all about getting mobileWed, 07 Jan 2026 18:00:00 +0000 After finding success with last year's New Year's resolution, health reporter Grace Wade has grand plans for 2026 – and the science to back them up | |
The secret weapon that could finally force climate actionTue, 06 Jan 2026 16:00:29 +0000 An ambitious form of climate modelling aims to pin the blame for disasters – from floods to heatwaves – on specific companies. Is this the tool we need to effectively prosecute the world’s biggest carbon emitters? | |
The science-fiction films to look forward to in 2026Wed, 07 Jan 2026 18:00:00 +0000 With a new 28 Days Later movie and a new Dune, not to mention films from Stephen Spielberg and Ridley Scott, this is shaping up to be a vintage year for sci-fi, says Simon Ings | |
NASA is performing an unprecedented medical evacuation from the ISSFri, 09 Jan 2026 18:00:43 +0000 One of the astronauts aboard the International Space Station is undergoing a “medical situation”, forcing NASA to bring the crew home early for the first time ever | |
Microbiome study hints that fibre could be linked to better sleepFri, 09 Jan 2026 18:00:15 +0000 Evidence is mounting that specific gut bacteria are linked to sleep conditions, which may open the doors to dietary recommendations aiming to boost the quality of our slumbers | |
What if the idea of the autism spectrum is completely wrong?Mon, 05 Jan 2026 16:10:03 +0000 For years, we've thought of autism as lying on a spectrum, but emerging evidence suggests that it comes in several distinct types. The implications for how we support autistic people could be profound | |
Why does the United States want to buy Greenland?Fri, 09 Jan 2026 16:00:36 +0000 The ice-covered island may be strategically important, but it's unclear that it could be a commercially viable source of minerals and oil in the near future | |
Quantum neural network may be able to cheat the uncertainty principleFri, 09 Jan 2026 16:00:02 +0000 Calculations show that injecting randomness into a quantum neural network could help it determine properties of quantum objects that are otherwise fundamentally hard to access | |
You can upgrade your immune system, but not in the way you thinkMon, 22 Dec 2025 12:00:57 +0000 From vitamin C to your microbiome and mindset, the latest science of immunity is often counterintuitive. Here's how to give your system a fighting chance to overcome infection | |
Are we living in a simulation? This experiment could tell usMon, 08 Dec 2025 10:00:13 +0000 The idea that we might be living in a simulated reality has worried us for centuries. Now physicists have found some tantalising clues – and devised an experiment that might reveal the truth | |
A sinister, deadly brain protein could reveal the origins of all lifeMon, 01 Dec 2025 16:00:16 +0000 We have long struggled to determine how the first living organisms on Earth came together. Now, surprising evidence hints that poorly understood prions may have been the vital missing ingredient | |
A new understanding of causality could fix quantum theory’s fatal flawMon, 24 Nov 2025 16:00:39 +0000 Quantum theory fails to explain how the reality we experience emerges from the world of particles. A new take on quantum cause and effect could bridge the gap | |
Man whose gut made its own alcohol gets relief from faecal transplantFri, 09 Jan 2026 15:00:54 +0000 A man with auto-brewery syndrome, a rare condition in which gut microbes produce intoxicating levels of alcohol, has been successfully treated with faeces from a super donor | |
'Knitted' satellite launching to monitor Earth's surface with radarFri, 09 Jan 2026 13:00:27 +0000 A standard industrial knitting machine has been modified to produce fabrics from tungsten wire coated in gold, which are used to form the dish on the CarbSAR satellite | |
City-sized iceberg has turned into a giant swimming poolThu, 08 Jan 2026 15:00:09 +0000 Satellite photos show meltwater on the surface of iceberg A23a collecting in an unusual way, which may be a sign that the huge berg is about to break apart | |
These images explore a 'utopic' village built for teaching mathsWed, 07 Jan 2026 18:00:00 +0000 The Nesin Mathematics Village in western Turkey was dreamed up by award-winning mathematician Ali Nesin to engage his students | |
Tree bark microbiome has important overlooked role in climateThu, 08 Jan 2026 19:00:18 +0000 Tree bark has a total surface area similar to all of the land area on Earth. It is home to a wide range of microbial species unknown to science, and they can either take up or emit gases that have a warming effect on the climate | |
Some quantum computers might need more power than supercomputersThu, 08 Jan 2026 17:00:11 +0000 A preliminary analysis suggests that industrially useful quantum computers designs come with a broad spectrum of energy footprints, including some larger than the most powerful existing supercomputers | |
Hominin fossils from Morocco may be close ancestors of modern humansWed, 07 Jan 2026 16:00:50 +0000 The jawbones and vertebrae of a hominin that lived 773,000 years ago have been found in North Africa and could represent a common ancestor of Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans | |
I'm calling it – 2026 is going to be the year of the galaxyWed, 07 Jan 2026 18:00:00 +0000 We are going to be getting a lot of exciting new information about galaxies in 2026, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, who can't wait to see what it can tell us | |
Red tattoo ink causes man to lose all his hair and stop sweatingThu, 08 Jan 2026 13:00:21 +0000 A man’s severe reaction to a tattoo, which made all his hair fall out and destroyed his sweat glands, has reignited concerns about the immune effects of some tattoo inks | |
Passwords will be on the way out in 2026 as passkeys take overTue, 06 Jan 2026 17:00:46 +0000 The curse of having to remember easily hackable passwords may soon be over, as a new alternative is set to take over in 2026 | |
Why connecting with nature shouldn't mean disconnecting from scienceWed, 07 Jan 2026 18:00:00 +0000 There is a growing trend to see our relationship with nature as a spiritual thing. This is a mistake, argues Richard Smyth | |
The best new science-fiction shows of 2026Wed, 07 Jan 2026 18:00:00 +0000 From Fallout and Gen Z Star Trek to the classic Neuromancer, you will be glued to the TV this year, says TV columnist Bethan Ackerley | |
Exercise may relieve depression as effectively as antidepressantsThu, 08 Jan 2026 01:00:25 +0000 A comprehensive review confirms the benefits of exercise for treating depression, even if the exact reasons remain unclear | |
Weight regain seems to occur within 2 years of stopping obesity drugsWed, 07 Jan 2026 23:30:56 +0000 Drugs like Ozempic have transformed how we treat obesity, but a review of almost 40 studies shows it doesn't take long for people to regain weight if they come off them | |
Hunting with poison arrows may have begun 60,000 years ago in AfricaWed, 07 Jan 2026 19:00:14 +0000 A collection of arrow points excavated in South Africa has provided the oldest direct evidence of hunters deploying plant-based poisons on their weapons, a practice that has continued into modern times in some traditional cultures | |
Super-low-density worlds reveal how common planetary systems formWed, 07 Jan 2026 16:00:33 +0000 Most planetary systems contain worlds larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune, and the low-density planets around one young star should help us understand how such systems form | |
Early humans may have begun butchering elephants 1.8 million years agoTue, 06 Jan 2026 19:00:57 +0000 A 1.78-million-year-old partial elephant skeleton found in Tanzania associated with stone tools may represent the oldest known evidence of butchery of the giant herbivores | |
AI chatbots miss urgent issues in queries about women's healthWed, 07 Jan 2026 10:00:34 +0000 AI models such as ChatGPT and Gemini fail to give adequate advice for 60 per cent of queries relating to women’s health in a test created by medical professionals | |
CAR T-cell therapy makes ageing guts heal themselvesWed, 07 Jan 2026 08:00:11 +0000 Immune cells are most commonly engineered to kill cancers, but now, scientists have shown the technique makes the gut lining of older mice resemble that of younger mice, raising hopes that the same approach could work in people | |
The first quantum fluctuations set into motion a huge cosmic mysteryTue, 06 Jan 2026 18:00:44 +0000 The earliest acoustic vibrations in the cosmos weren’t exactly sound – they travelled at half the speed of light and there was nobody around to hear them anyway. But Jim Baggott says from the first moments, the universe was singing | |
Jellyfish sleep about as much as humans do – and nap like us tooTue, 06 Jan 2026 16:00:30 +0000 The benefits of sleep may be more universal than we thought. We know it helps clear waste from the brain in humans, and now it seems that even creatures without brains like ours get similar benefits | |
The first commercial space stations will start orbiting Earth in 2026Tue, 06 Jan 2026 14:00:42 +0000 For nearly three decades, the International Space Station has been the only destination in low Earth orbit, but that will change this year. Could it be the start of a thriving economy in space? | |
US will need both carrots and sticks to reach net zeroTue, 06 Jan 2026 12:00:22 +0000 Modelling suggests both carbon taxes and green subsidies will be necessary to decarbonise the US economy, but the inconsistent policies of successive presidents are the "worst case" scenario | |
BepiColombo mission will start to unpick Mercury's secrets in 2026Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:29 +0000 The BepiColombo mission has been on its way to Mercury since 2018 and will finally start orbiting the planet and taking X-ray images in the second half of 2026 | |
Northern Greenland ice dome melted before and could melt againMon, 05 Jan 2026 18:30:55 +0000 The Prudhoe ice dome disappeared during a warm period 7000 years ago. Global warming could cause similar temperatures by 2100, showing the Greenland ice sheet’s vulnerability | |
Weird clump in the early universe is piping hot and we don’t know whyMon, 05 Jan 2026 16:00:51 +0000 A galaxy cluster in the early universe is 10 times hotter than it ought to be, which may reshape how we think these enormous structures formed | |
El Niño was linked to famines in Europe in the early modern periodMon, 05 Jan 2026 15:00:19 +0000 A study of 160 European famines between 1500 and 1800 shows that El Niño weather events led to the onset of some famines and extended the duration of others | |
The best new popular science books of January 2026Mon, 05 Jan 2026 15:00:17 +0000 A host of new science books are due to hit shelves in January, by authors including Claudia Hammond, Deborah Cohen and Daisy Fancourt | |
2026 will shed light on whether a little-known drug helps with autismMon, 05 Jan 2026 14:00:49 +0000 The US government is approving the drug leucovorin to address rising rates of autism, despite limited evidence that it works. This year, results from the largest trial yet should give more insight into its potential | |
Ghostly particles might just break our understanding of the universeMon, 05 Jan 2026 08:00:49 +0000 An analysis of several experiments aimed at detecting the mysterious neutrino has identified a hint of a crack in the standard model of particle physics | |
A strange kind of quantumness may be key to quantum computers' successMon, 05 Jan 2026 12:00:59 +0000 Researchers at Google have used their Willow quantum computer to demonstrate that "quantum contextuality" may be a crucial ingredient for its computational prowess | |
Controversial satellites launching in 2026 will reflect light to EarthTue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:56 +0000 Reflect Orbital plans to launch thousands of reflective mirrors to produce "sunlight on demand", but researchers are sceptical about whether the reflected light will be enough to generate electricity | |
The best new science fiction books of January 2026Mon, 05 Jan 2026 10:00:38 +0000 Big hitter Peter F. Hamilton has a new sci-fi novel out this month – and Booker winner George Saunders ventures into speculative fiction with his latest book, Vigil | |
2026 is set to be an even bigger year for weight-loss drugsTue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 GLP-1 agonists have already had an outsized influence on society, and with pill versions and more advanced formulations on the horizon, that looks set to continue | |
See how fire has changed the world's largest wetland, the PantanalTue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 Stunning and shocking images from upcoming exhibition Water Pantanal Fire show how this tropical wetland has been hit by wildfires | |
Why stroking seedlings can help them grow big and strongTue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 The science behind why stroking your seedlings actually works. If you’re worried about your seedlings getting long and leggy, try a bit of home thigmomorphogenesis, advises James Wong | |
Why I'm going to reap the mental health benefits of stargazing in 2026Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 Navigating the night sky can have a positive effect on our well-being. This will be the year I learn the constellations, resolves Michael Brooks | |
Was our earliest ancestor a knuckle-dragger, or did it walk upright?Fri, 02 Jan 2026 19:00:36 +0000 Did Sahelanthropus, which lived 7 million years ago, walk on two legs like a modern human? It's complicated | |
Russia-US nuclear pact is about to end and we won't see anotherTue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:32 +0000 After the New START treaty expires in February, there will be no cap on the number of US and Russian nuclear weapons - but some are sceptical about whether the deal actually made the world safer | |
Gargantuan black hole may be a remnant from the dawn of the universeFri, 02 Jan 2026 12:00:18 +0000 Astronomers were puzzled by a black hole around 50 million times the mass of the sun with no stars, spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope – now simulations suggest it could be a primordial black hole, something we have never seen before | |
Chess can be made fairer by rearranging the piecesThu, 01 Jan 2026 19:00:10 +0000 Chess960 involves shuffling the pieces at the back of the board, and an analysis suggests doing so can increase the complexity of the game to favour white, black or neither player | |
The cost of weight-loss drugs should fall in 2026Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:12 +0000 The price of weight-loss drugs like Wegovy put them out of reach for most people with obesity, but new arrivals and expiring patents should change that this year | |
Our verdict on The Player of Games: Iain M. Banks is still a masterFri, 02 Jan 2026 08:55:57 +0000 The New Scientist Book Club has just finished our December read, Iain M. Banks's sci-fi novel The Player of Games - and most of us were fans of this big-thinking Culture tale | |
The challenges of writing from the perspective of a sex robotFri, 02 Jan 2026 08:45:44 +0000 The author of the award-winning science fiction novel Annie Bot, the January read for the New Scientist Book Club, on how she created her startling protagonist | |
Read an extract from Annie Bot by Sierra GreerFri, 02 Jan 2026 08:45:00 +0000 In this extract from the award-winning science fiction novel Annie Bot, the January read for the New Scientist Book Club, we are introduced to Sierra Greer's protagonist, a sex robot called Annie | |
Murder victim discovered to have two sets of DNA due to rare conditionFri, 02 Jan 2026 08:00:32 +0000 A woman's body has been found to consist of varying proportions of male and female cells because of an extremely rare form of chimerism | |
The best new popular science books of 2026Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 Clear out your shelves for a bumper new crop of books by authors including Naomi Klein, Rebecca Solnit and Xand Van Tulleken, says culture editor Alison Flood | |
The best new science fiction books of 2026Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 On the horizon for this year are Ann Leckie's latest, Neil Jordan's debut and more from Adrian Tchaikovsky. Exciting times, says our sci-fi columnist Emily H. Wilson | |
Rare Saturn-sized rogue planet is first to have its mass measuredThu, 01 Jan 2026 19:00:40 +0000 Researchers have confirmed the mass of a free-floating planet thanks to a lucky convergence of ground- and space-based telescopes | |
World's first subsea desalination facility will start running in 2026Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:28 +0000 Flocean, a Norwegian company, is set to open the world’s first commercial-scale subsea desalination plant, an approach that could cut the cost and energy used to make seawater drinkable | |
2026 Mars mission will set out to solve the mystery of its moonsTue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:10 +0000 The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will be launching the Martian Moons eXploration mission next year, which should finally tell us how Mars acquired the moons Phobos and Deimos | |
Could James and the Giant Peach inspire the future of food?Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 In the latest in our imagined history of inventions yet to come, Future Chronicles columnist Rowan Hooper reveals how by the 2030s, botanists had worked out how to grow hybridised superplants to help feed the world | |
The weight-loss drugs on trial in 2026 may trump Ozempic and ZepboundTue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:40 +0000 Drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound have transformed how we treat obesity, but more effective treatments could be down the road | |
The 3 things you should do this New Year to foster a positive mindsetThu, 01 Jan 2026 09:00:29 +0000 Olivia Remes, a mental health researcher at the University of Cambridge, says these are the three things everyone should do this New Year to cultivate a more positive mindset | |
US to fire up small reactors in 2026 as part of 'nuclear renaissance'Tue, 30 Dec 2025 18:00:10 +0000 Eleven companies are working towards an ambitious goal as part of the US Department of Energy's plan to fast-track the development of advanced nuclear reactor technologies | |
Could 2026 be the year we start using quantum computers for chemistry?Wed, 31 Dec 2025 17:00:30 +0000 Understanding the chemical properties of a molecule is an inherently quantum problem, making quantum computers a good tool for the job – and we may start seeing this take off in 2026 | |
The emotion you never knew you had, and how to feel more of itTue, 30 Dec 2025 16:00:54 +0000 The warm and fuzzy emotion of kama muta underlies vital feel-good experiences like social connection and feeling part of something bigger. But are you getting enough of it? | |
EU carbon border tax will force others to cut emissions from 2026Tue, 30 Dec 2025 14:00:32 +0000 In 2026, the European Union will start charging a carbon-emissions-based tax on imported goods such as steel, cement and fertilisers – and countries including the UK are likely to follow | |
Three supermassive black holes have been spotted merging into oneWed, 31 Dec 2025 12:00:27 +0000 Astronomers have found a system of three supermassive black holes, all actively feeding, that appear to be combining into a single system – a rare event that will help elucidate the physics of complex mergers | |
We'll learn about LSD's potential for treating anxiety in 2026Tue, 30 Dec 2025 11:00:46 +0000 Two later-stage trials investigating LSD for treating anxiety are due to conclude in 2026, which could lead to the drug being approved for the common mental health condition | |
The duo kite-skiing 4000 kilometres across Antarctica for scienceWed, 31 Dec 2025 08:00:57 +0000 An explorer and a glaciologist are kite-skiing across Antarctica with a ground-penetrating radar to gather data that will help understand the past and future of the ice sheet | |
Star that seemed to vanish more than 130 years ago is found againTue, 30 Dec 2025 19:00:44 +0000 In 1892, astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard thought he saw a bright star near Venus, but then it vanished. We may now know why | |
Physicists stirred up controversy with scientific cooking tips in 2025Tue, 30 Dec 2025 17:00:12 +0000 Cacio e pepe pasta and boiled eggs were the subjects of meticulous studies aiming to help cooks achieve perfection, but the reimagined recipes weren't always well-received | |
The century-long hunt for the gigantic meteorite that vanishedTue, 30 Dec 2025 16:00:07 +0000 A soldier returned from the Sahara desert in 1916 with a wild story about a meteorite that dwarfed all others. Over 100 years of hunting yielded nothing – but now twin brothers think they have solved the puzzle | |
The cassette tape made a comeback in 2025 thanks to a DNA upgradeTue, 30 Dec 2025 14:00:38 +0000 With a storage capacity of 36 petabytes, a DNA-based cassette tape can hold every song every recorded, and it could be on the market within five years | |
The best and most ridiculous robots of 2025 in picturesMon, 29 Dec 2025 14:00:19 +0000 Some of the world's most advanced robots showed off their skills at tech shows and sporting events, doing everything from cooking shrimp to running half marathons | |
A controversial experiment threatened to kill the multiverse in 2025Tue, 30 Dec 2025 11:00:08 +0000 A photon was apparently detected in two places at once in a twist on the classic double-slit experiment, but many physicists didn't accept the results | |
Benefits of mRNA cancer vaccines could exceed $75 billion in US aloneTue, 30 Dec 2025 08:00:48 +0000 An analysis of ongoing trials suggests that mRNA cancer vaccines have the potential to deliver health benefits worth $75 billion each year in the US alone | |
Mathematicians unified key laws of physics in 2025Mon, 29 Dec 2025 17:00:38 +0000 It took 125 years, but in 2025 a team of mathematicians discovered the solution to a long-puzzling problem about the equations that govern the behaviour of particles in a fluid | |
Low on energy? A new understanding of rest could help revitalise youMon, 29 Dec 2025 16:00:36 +0000 There is a state of relaxation that few of us spend much time in, but which comes with profound well-being benefits. With healthier ageing, reduced risk of disease and feeling more energised all on offer, here's how to get there | |
Human-plant hybrid cells reveal truth about dark DNA in our genomeMon, 29 Dec 2025 08:00:24 +0000 It has been claimed that because most of our DNA is active, it must be important, but now human-plant hybrid cells have been used to show this activity is mostly random noise | |
Inside world's ultimate X-ray machine before it becomes more powerfulMon, 29 Dec 2025 12:00:42 +0000 The Linac Coherent Light Source in California has been firing record-breaking X-ray pulses for years, but now it’s due for a shutdown and an upgrade. When it is turned back on, it will be even more powerful | |
Microsoft made a splash with a controversial quantum computer in 2025Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:00:41 +0000 The Majorana 1 quantum computer was hailed as a significant breakthrough by Microsoft, but critics say the company has yet to prove it actually works despite a year of debate | |
New Year's resolutions work better if you know what to measureTue, 23 Dec 2025 18:00:00 +0000 From our immune systems to our microbiomes, if you're planning to make health improvements in the new year, having an eye on the numbers can help set you up for success | |